Tangled in the Great Escape
by jokerkind
Summary: Seven years, and I was finally coming home - all I know is, I definitely didn't expect to see these guys. Shizuo/OC. Izaya/OC on the side. This is kind of a collab/partner work with something my friend is working on making right now.


**Tangled in the Great Escape**

_**I.**_

Seven years, and I was finally home.

It was bizarre to say the least, walking down the familiar streets in Ikebukuro. Things had changed, buildings taken down and rebuilt. The streets were more crowded, there were more sounds and lights, more shady faces to pass by.

But it was still different, it wasn't like actually coming home. There was a grouchy woman at my side. I came to about her forehead - she was tall, but still wore heels - and she had freshly dyed brown hair.

There was also a man, tall and holding himself proudly, shoulders back and chest puffed out. He wore a kind expression even despite, bearing a steady grey streak at his temple without even a single care.

The pair was tailing me, murmuring and glancing around, and we'd be meeting even more people in just a few minutes. A hotel was right up the way, its sign gleaming and the valet parking loud, bustling with voices and people, guests all handing off their keys and lugging their bags inside.

I didn't know why we were there, it's some "trip" for me to "get reacquainted with my parents since it's been so long." Yeah, right. That's why we've brought everyone and their mom here, too. Five, six people with us on this trip, and it's ridiculous. Thankfully we've all got our own rooms, though.

Approaching the hotel with relative ease, I huffed and finally toed off my heels, carrying them at my side instead. I could hear Janet grumbling about my indecency, but continued on with pride. It wasn't my fault if heels were impossible to walk long distances in - I was blistering, and that was that.

It was that moment an ever-familiar figure swayed out from the front doors and waved. "Kiku, mom, dad." he greeted, flashing a smile. It was in English, eliciting a few odd glances from the valet drivers.

Regardless, he walked out towards us, hands tucked into his pockets as he took a moment to kiss my cheek and pass, moving to walk next to his mother instead.

That was my boyfriend, Victor Nichols. He was a little pretentious, sure, but he was a good guy… kind of. He had his issues here and there, but it wasn't too much of a deal. As the heir to his family's business, he was under quite a bit of stress most of the time, so he had a decent reason.

Huffing softly out my nose, I moved past the large glass doors of the hotel, whose name has slipped my mind. Making her way in my direction was Rui, Victor's sister. She was from Japan like myself but was adopted at a pretty young age by the Nichols family.

It was because of her that I met Victor. In my junior year of high school, I'd been assigned to teach a UK girl Japanese and as much as I could in regard to culture. At first, it was online, starting with basic lessons, and soon led to me packing up and moving to live with them, to speak and interact with Rui myself, full-time.

At first, it would have been a temporary setup, if I hadn't been hired by the family to work under their business, teaching Rui all the while. From there, I buckled down and made the situation permanent - following with Victor asking me on a few awkward dates.

Several years later, and here we were - back in Ikebukuro. It certainly had changed since I was a teenager. Louder, busier, shadier. Those were all things that described the place I grew up in, running from and after bullies and getting into childhood spats, getting hurt and learning to laugh it off, and teenage feats.

Smiling gently at the brief memories, I sighed and dropped my heels onto the luggage cart that sat not too far off. It had my suitcases, as well as a fair stack of others, atop it.

Directing my attention to the black-haired girl, I came to a stop before her. "Did you find them some translators?" I asked first off, taking a moment to give the younger girl a hug and brush some of her hair out of her face.

With a slight shrug, Rui hummed. "I had to spend a while talking with the concierge, but yeah, they've got a few that are on their way." she explained, snorting. "They're not cheap, I'll tell you that. Especially with how long we'll be here, "

"I didn't expect them to be." I commented. "I mean, why are we even going to be here for a month?" Again, Rui shrugged before she and I both glanced back at the trio talking to themselves. Bypassers were staring, wondering why there was a group of Europeans gawking in the lobby, and they were staring right on back, sneering all the while.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and turned on my heel, striding over to the concierge's desk to get everyone checked in. After ten or so minutes of back and forth banter, exhaustedly explaining reservations and flashing IDs and passports, at last, I could go up to my room and lay down.

The eleven-plus hour flight had not been kind, if the bags under my eyes couldn't express that on their own. It was a ridiculous thing - sleepless and annoying.

Even on a first-class flight there were still children screaming and kicking the back of my seat incessantly, a man snoring two rows ahead, and a group of women who couldn't seem to keep their mouths shut. Not to mention Janet's mid-flight drink and slurred words for a few hours after, going on about my hair and how I "needed to fix it because it looked _awful_."

Yes, thank you for sharing. I appreciate that _so_ much. But, hey, you should take a look in the mirror at that mess atop your head, too, and reconsider _everything_.

I could never actually say that, of course, but I could definitely dream of the day. But for now, I was to be well behaved, or else I'd probably get berated with insults of impropriety from Janet, the antichrist itself in regard to being proper most of the time.

After Thomas roused his mother from her spot on a plush couch, I gave her a key as well, then, with a shake of my head, passed Janet and Thomas their room key. I gave one to Victor, and dragged Rui along with myself as a bellboy followed with our respective bags.

Soon enough, I found myself able to collapse onto a very nice bed - white-sheeted and plush as hell, a godsend with how tired I was.

And for a while, I got to rest. A pleasant silence fell over the room for quite some time. Rui got up and showered, returning in a sweater, to slump down onto her bed and flip on the television as I rested.

Several hours passed, and I found myself being roused from my slumber by knocking at the door, Janet's persistent fussing audible from the other side. I groaned and pushed myself up, glancing Rui's way to see she'd passed out much like myself. She'd hardly stirred yet, so I got up and answered the door, a scowl painting my expression.

"Mmm, yes?" I hummed, leaning against the doorframe. Almost immediately, Janet forced her way inside, speaking all sorts of nonsense.

"- I want you two to get up and ready, we'll be going to dinner in an hour. Thomas and I wanted to celebrate your, ah, being back home with a nice meal."

Huffing, I took a few steps back into the room and grumbled. Rui stirred and pulled a pillow over her head, stretching out on her stomach where she lay, only to have her mother rifle the covers and tug the pillow away.

"Shouldn't we be having dinner with my mom, too? I mean, I _am_ her kid, and since I'm back…? Yeah." I murmured a little senselessly for a moment, then ran my hands over the front of the longsleeve I wore. "Wouldn't that make sense?" Janet folded her arms, tsking.

"Well, why don't you call her up?" she suggested, a pencil-thin brow arching. Well, alright. I guess that's a plausible idea.

Muttering an okay, I walked over to my purse and pushed around through it until my phone came into sight. It was a little outdated, a slider, and the corner of the screen was cracked. Maybe I needed a new one, but I sure as hell didn't care. I couldn't bring myself to replace it, that was for damn sure. I'd had it since high school, after all.

Dialing the correct number, I rocked on my feet, waiting as it rung. It didn't take long for my mother to pick up, and in an instant she was speaking. I was still used to Rui and her shakiness sometimes, not this. Fast paced and a little loud, I had to hold my phone away from my head for a moment before finally cutting off my mother to speak.

I explained I was back in town - for reasons unknown - and that dinner was a thing that would be happening. Of course, she agreed, and was soon rushing around as she spoke, rattling on about the cats and the little corgi she had running around the house those days.

It was quite comical to listen to, a smile tugging my lips as I listened. Once Janet left Rui and I to ourselves again, I put mom on speaker to ramble excitedly, fumbling and tripping over her words as she simultaneously got ready. Apparently, she was looking for her "best dress" in her closet, and eventually came to say she would see me in a while and hung up.

Left to get ready, myself, I got Rui off the bed and hopped into the shower briefly. After washing up, I dried my hair and dressed, putting on makeup. I helped Rui, combing her hair as she applied her own makeup, and we both were in the lobby in due time, waiting for the others to join us.

Most would expect the young ladies to be the last out, right? Well, Janet was first, of course - taking it upon herself to bicker. Grandmother Nichols was next, and Thomas and Victor were last. A bit of a change, right?

Just about running late, we departed, myself at the lead of the group. Seven years or not, the street names were still the same, and navigating wasn't too hard. Although it was sort of a task to keep everyone together in the evening foot traffic - Gram wandered this way, Thomas wanted to stop and look into expensive shops' windows.

It took far too long, but we finally arrived at the venue of Janet's choice. Some high-caliber restaurant whose name I'd never heard of, of course. We shuffled in, taking our seats and awaiting my mother's arrival.

Almost immediately, Victor snaked an arm about my shoulders, sitting to my side, and smirked. He seemed so smug, so full of himself, as though putting his arm around me was some huge accomplishment or something.

Right.

I rolled my eyes and glanced around the place, taking in the serene music and the subtle clanking of glassware and the rattle of bartenders mixing drinks. It all tied in with the warm hum of voices, of life - all of which was a great reminder of my time growing up.

Within a few minutes, mother arrived, murmuring excitedly and trying to contain herself. It had been seven years, at the very least, and it was nice to finally be home, to see her again. Skype calls had never been enough, and the Nichols' always insisted I stay for holiday, even when I wasn't dating Victor.

Branching from a gentle embrace from myself, mom all but bearhugged me, squeezing me tightly and rattling on and on with tears in her eyes. "Kiku, dear, I missed you so much, " was all I really got out of it, but it was still enthralling, a subtle warmth in my chest as I squeezed her gently and sighed, swaying in my spot before finally leaning back and noting all of the looks from others in the restaurant - including our own group.

Snapping a quiet, "sit down, " Janet sighed and, finally, introduced herself to my mom. They shook hands and my mom seemed a little wary of her as she took her spot at my side, opposite of Victor.

Rui, sitting across from me, snickered. "You're so cute. How long has it been?" she asked softly, crossing her arms atop the table. As wine was brought out, I paused, then shook my head, a smile tugging my painted lips.

"It's been too long, that's all. I mean, I haven't gone home more than a few times since I came to tutor you full time." I admitted, feeling a little remorseful for having not put forth more of an effort to come home more often. However, my mother's warm hand on mine ceased those thoughts, replaced with the image of her smile.

"Don't worry about it. It's just nice to have you back. How long will you be staying?"

As the waiter we had poured wine into the glass before me, I watched the murky red settle into the glass, then made brief eye contact with the boy, flashing a painted smile. Before I could answer my mother, Janet cut in, finding it to be the _perfect_ moment to interject - yet again - and answer for me.

"We'll be here for a short time. A few weeks at most. We have something planned for dear Kiku, and it should be quite favourable to you, as well." she insisted, offering a wry curl of a smile, quite a feat coming from her. Still, her words were unsettling, striking up a feeling of nervousness in the pit of my stomach.

As I cast a rather nervous look Rui's way, Victor chuckled. Thomas flashed a smile, himself, and reassured me, "Don't worry about any of it - it's nothing bad." The warm look his eyes held caused my nerves to betray me, easing considerably as I only nodded and took to sipping my wine. I chatted idly with Victor and Rui as the night carried on.

* * *

><p><strong>I understand this is kind of mundane and slow as it is, but I promise it'll pick up and the others will be introduced soon. I just don't wanna rush into it too much.<strong>

**This is a collab/partner work with that of a friend of mine (who owns Rui). It might be a good idea, might not be. Fanfiction usually goes here to die, but AO3 has too little users, and I don't really plan on making this anything really explicit so it should be alright. a review or follow/favourite if you liked. uvu Feedback is much appreciated.**

**- R**


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